Image storage in the field without computer option

[Gary Damaskos]

I am going to Australia for just shy of 3 weeks. I have a 4 gig card holding 240 raw files.

I have been thinking I did not want to take a laptop with.

So if I did not, my next question is how do I store my images?

I am going to take a lot more than 240 images. Buying more cards is obvious and expensive at ~$175 each or so for 4 gig ones. I would want 4 to 6.

Are there not other options that have less cost? Is there a hard drive of some form that will allow transfer of files via usb or other method directly from card to drive without computer?

Ideas, knowledge of options, thoughts welcome please.
Gary

[feppe]

I've been using HyperDrive SPACE for half a year now, and have very positive experiences. It's a portable HDD with a built-in card reader and seems to fulfill your requirements. It's a bit bigger than a deck of cards. It has longer battery life than every competitor I know of. And it's faaaast, so fast that I've used it as an external HDD for everyday computer use. It doesn't have a viewing screen, which I don't need - the screen on the SPACE is for the UI only. If you do need a proper viewing screen, there are offerings from other companies (Lacie and Epson, I believe) which have a screen but a much bigger price tag.

If you get the SPACE, I recommend buying the housing only, and getting the 2.5" portable HDD from a discount vendor, and installing the HDD yourself. It's very easy with the instructions and tools provided with SPACE, and saves you quite a bit of money.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I've been using the predecessor of the Hyperdrive SPACE, the HD80, for about a year now, and it has been fantastic. I'm planning to add a SPACE so I have redundant backups (my previous device, a different brand no longer available, quit after two years).

I'll second Feppe's suggestion: Buy the SPACE case and get a drive at discount from some place like NewEgg.

[Nill Toulme]

If you're paying $175 for 4GB cards you're paying way too much.  See for example this thread.

And no matter what you do, you don't want to go off on a trip like that with only one memory card.  Personally I think two or at most three, representing at least twice the capacity you think you'll need, is ideal as I don't like changing cards unnecessarily in the field.  I'm a proponent of many eggs in as few baskets as possible.  But some people are more comfortable with more.

Two more good sources for well-priced memory cards are www.mydigitaldiscount.com and www.newegg.com.  There are good deals to be had on Sandisk cards at the moment especially with the rebates (but mind the fine print), and Ridata 150x cards provide topnotch performance and bang for the buck.

If you have a Mark II 1-series with current firmware then a couple of 16GB cards would be ideal.  Otherwise, several 8GB cards would probably be best as I'm fairly sure the other cameras don't support the 16GB cards yet.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Goodlistener]

I've been using HyperDrive SPACE for half a year now, and have very positive experiences. It's a portable HDD with a built-in card reader and seems to fulfill your requirements. It's a bit bigger than a deck of cards. It has longer battery life than every competitor I know of. And it's faaaast, so fast that I've used it as an external HDD for everyday computer use. It doesn't have a viewing screen, which I don't need - the screen on the SPACE is for the UI only. If you do need a proper viewing screen, there are offerings from other companies (Lacie and Epson, I believe) which have a screen but a much bigger price tag.

If you get the SPACE, I recommend buying the housing only, and getting the 2.5" portable HDD from a discount vendor, and installing the HDD yourself. It's very easy with the instructions and tools provided with SPACE, and saves you quite a bit of money.
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This is very good. I had the same question and just knew that I didn't want to buy a laptop just for that.

[Gary Damaskos]

Hey everyone -

this is great. Cards have come way way down in the 6 months since I last looked. And the Hyperdrive collection looks like exactly what I was thinking must exist out there. At least one more card (thank you for the advice), and a Hyperdrive. Where's the credit card?
Thanks
Gary
 

[Jack Flesher]

Cards are cheap now for sure.  But some form of back-up is still advantageous IMO...  FWIW, I just listed an Epson P2000 in the FS forum here: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....t=0#entry116299

Cheers,

[Goodlistener]

Gary, another idea for you to consider.  Apple sells a small adapter that goes between the camera and an iPod. It costs about $29 and allows one to download photos diectly from the camera into the iPod via USB cable, and then to view those photos on the screen of the iPod.

I bought the device a few days ago and have yet to actually apply it, but it is returnable within 14 days.  The highest capacity iPod is 80GB at a cost of $350.  (In my case, I already have a small iPod and use it all the time).

Try this link for more info if you want to look into it.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...=home/ipod/ipod


Hope this may be useul, and good luck on "the quest".  I'm headed for the exact same situation myslef and am working it out too.

[mistybreeze]

If lack of money is a serious concern, more cards or schlepping the laptop may be your only "reliable" answer. For me, 4 cards is my limit and I need to see my images after they've been transferred which is why I invested in the Epson P-3000 Photo Storage Viewer. 40GBs of storage is more than I'll ever need and the viewing screen is terrific with great options. I also find the P-3000 serves me well on small, outdoor location shoots, where a laptop can really get in the way of a "quick" production. This toy isn't cheap but it can be a worthy tool.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consume...es&oid=63061067

[DarkPenguin]

Has anyone tried a Wolverine ESP or MVP?